“Are you okay?” He looked at her with a tender smile, and she nodded, wiped away her tears, and blew her nose. Her firstborn had left the nest.
“I’m going to miss her so much,” she said sadly, but happy for her.
“She’ll come home more than you think. She’s going to miss you too.” But Eileen knew it would never be quite the same again. The years would fly and she’d be off to her own skies. The time Pennie wanted so much, and waited for, had finally come. She was grown and well on her way.
It was nice being with Max for the drive home to Greenwich. Eileen would have been too sad without him. He was wise for his years, and their age difference didn’t bother either of them. It didn’t seem to matter at all.
“You know, I hope it’s not rude of me to say it,” he said cautiously, as they sat stuck in the traffic jam of departing parents, all feeling the same emotions she did, of simultaneous loss and pride. “Paul is a nice guy, but I can’t for a second imagine you with him. You’re so different.”
“We are. We never should have gotten married, or we should have given up a long time before we did. He’s much happier now, and so am I. Mathilde suits him much better.”
“She’s more his style,” Max agreed, and smiled at her. Mathilde was milder, less exuberant and energetic than Eileen. Eileen was already missing Pennie, but she was happy with Max. “And do I suit you better?” he asked her.
“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” she said with a smile, and leaned over to kiss him. She couldn’t have predicted it, or any of what had happened. A year before, Pennie had been pregnant and lost a baby, she’d been married to Paul and thought she would be forever, she was depressed about turning forty, Paul was cheating on her and she didn’t know it, and he was madly in love with Olivia. Eileen wondered what had happened to her, and if things had worked out for her too. Life had a way of sorting things out better than one could imagine or plan for oneself. Everything in her life had changed for the better in the past year, and her future looked bright.
“Are we all set for the event on Tuesday?” he asked her.
“I think so. I’ve gone over all the checklists.” He was sure she had. He knew her now. New York magazine had called her for an interview and said they were the hot new caterers and party planners of the moment. The charity event they were about to do was going to be a big one for them, and would put them in the eye of everyone who mattered in New York. And New York magazine wanted to get the scoop first. They were thinking of putting Eileen and Max on the cover in their chef hats and jackets if the event on Tuesday turned out well. The interview was due to come out in October, which was going to be a big month for them, with two more weddings. And two more still coming up in September. They were starting to make real money, and Eileen had found the career she had always dreamed of, just not in the field she expected.
“Would you ever want to open a restaurant?” Max asked her casually, as they reached the highway to take them back to Connecticut.
“Maybe one day, not yet. I’m having too much fun doing catering and event planning.” She had thought she would be doing small dinner parties. She didn’t expect it to take off the way it had. The Melling wedding had launched them. “Maybe when I’m older,” she said about the restaurant with a smile. That had changed too. A year before she was dreading turning forty, and thought her life was over. And instead it had begun again, better than before. Now she felt younger and could see a bright future ahead.
“I’ll ask you again about the restaurant in a few years,” he said. “When we both grow up, if that ever happens,” he said, and they laughed.
Chapter 18
The article about Eileen and Max came out in New York magazine in October. The charity event had been a big success. They were on the cover, back-to-back, wearing their chef hats and jackets.
She’d gotten her divorce papers the same week and it seemed mildly anticlimactic after everything else that had happened. She felt nostalgic for a minute and then put the papers away. She was free now.
Pennie was loving Harvard. They were going up for family weekend in a week. The time had flown since they’d taken her there in August. She loved her classes, was dating a few boys, and Eileen and Max had a long list of parties, weddings, and events to cater. The time had flown since Pennie left.
* * *
—
Gwen was busy on the set of her new movie, but she called her mother and Federico the night before they left on their honeymoon. They were going to see Olivia and Jean-Pierre in Paris for dinner. Olivia was there again, and they had invited her grandmother and Federico to a new restaurant.
Gwen was still seeing Jeremy Stubbs, whenever she got a day off from the movie. He had visited her once on the set and been on Page Six with her when they were seen having brunch at the Mercer in SoHo on a Sunday morning. They referred to him as the “Mystery Man,” since no one knew who he was, which suited both of them just fine. They were trying to keep it that way, for now. They were planning to visit Olivia in Paris when they had time. Gabrielle had been right about movies and men.
* * *
—
Federico and Gabrielle drank champagne after they boarded the plane to Paris, and talked about what a success his show had been, and about her next one. Then they both went to sleep so they’d be fresh when they landed.
It was a sunny October day when they arrived. The weather was crisp. They already knew all the places they wanted to go to retrace their footsteps of the past, when they were students in Paris and had met.
They went through passport control and the customs officer looked at Gabrielle in surprise, and pointed to her age on her passport.
“Bravo, Madame!” he said, finding it hard to believe that she was ninety-three years old.
She smiled and shrugged, feeling as young as she had been when she first went to the Beaux-Arts. “It’s just a number,” she said to him. “We’re on our honeymoon,” she said proudly. Federico beamed at her, still a handsome man, and she had mischief in her eyes when she looked at him.
“Congratulations!” the officer said to both of them, handing them their passports. They headed for baggage claim at a rapid pace, eager to get started on their honeymoon, as the customs officer watched them go, smiled, and wished them well.
To my darling children, Beatrix, Trevor, Todd, Nick, Sam, Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara,